The Blancos president hailed the Portuguese star as a legend at the club at a ceremony to mark the 30-year becoming their recored goalscorer

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has praised Cristiano Ronaldo with the Portugal international on the brink of becoming the leading goalscorer in the club’s history.

Ronaldo netted twice in Madrid’s 2-0 Champions League win over Malmo on Wednesday to take his tally for the capital side to 323, drawing level with club icon Raul, though the club, the player and Marca insist that the Portugal forward has netted 324, counting a deflected Pepe goal against Real Socieded in 2010 as part of the 30-year-old’s tally.

Madrid organised an event on Friday to laud the 30-year-old’s performances and Perez underlined Ronaldo’s importance to the club.

“Real Madrid are a club that aim to achieve the impossible and giants like Cristiano Ronaldo make it happen,” Perez indicated as Ronaldo, his family, team-mates and head coach Rafa Benitez looked on.

“Cristiano, the fans at Real Madrid love and admire you. They all know how much you mean to this club.

“You are a legend at the club that has won 10 European titles.”

The Real president also indicated his belief that the deflected goal against Sociedad does count in Ronaldo’s goal tally, suggesting that the forward has already overtaken Raul and reached 324 goals.

“He is our all-time top goalscorer and the best player in the world,” Perez said.